Sustainable solutions to combat Downy Mildew pathogen of pea

豌豆是一种全球重要的豆科作物，因其在土壤固氮、可持续农业和提供丰富的植物蛋白来源方面的作用而受到重视。由于最近广泛使用的含甲霜灵的杀真菌剂在室外播种的种子中被撤回，作物产量和质量处于被霜霉病（DM）病原体影响的高风险中，这影响了英国的豌豆藤和组合豌豆。本项目的目的是利用基因组学工具来了解病原体的多样性及其在疾病流行中的作用，发现并验证新的DM遗传抗性来源。为此，我们将评估包含栽培品种，地方品种和野生物种的遗传多样性豌豆种质资源，以获得新的抗性来源，并使用突变体，双亲群体和/或基因编辑来验证所发现的候选基因的潜力。确定的抗性将被转移到精英豌豆品种，使用标记辅助选择与我们的工业合作伙伴，利马格兰，在那里学生将有机会进行为期三个月的实习。病原体多样性也将进行遗传特征分析，以开发快速鉴定病原体小种的诊断工具，并绘制其在英国的分布图，以帮助种植者在品种选择中做出明智的决定。

Pea is a globally important legume crop valued for its role in soil nitrogen fixation, sustainable agriculture and providing a rich source of plant protein. The crop yield and quality are at a high risk from Downy Mildew (DM) pathogen, affecting both vining and combining peas in the UK, due to the recent withdrawal of the widely used metalaxyl-M containing fungicides for outdoor sowing of seeds. The aim of this project is to use genomic tools to understand the pathogen diversity and its role in disease epidemics, find and validate novel sources of genetic resistance to DM. To this end, we will evaluate a genetically diverse Pisum germplasm collection containing cultivars, landraces and wild species for novel sources of resistance and validate the potential of discovered candidate genes using mutants, biparental populations and/or gene editing. Identified resistances will be transferred into elite pea varieties, using marker-assisted selection in collaboration with our industrial partner, Limagrain, where the student will have the opportunity to undertake a three-month placement. The pathogen diversity will also be genetically characterized to develop a diagnostic tool for the rapid identification of pathogen races and map their distribution across UK to help the growers make an informed decision in the variety selection.